Curing Dry Rock

[fernalfer]

Ok i have had 100lbs. of Marco Dry Rock. It is mined Rock with 100% no dead stuff on it or in it. Now the big question with Dry Rock is the fact that they could leech Phosphates into their Display Tanks. I have had my Dry rock in my 120 gallon because i was soaking it in vinegar and water solution to clean and also to do a leak test. I figured why not throw the rock in as well with a power head. The water was clear for about 3 days but has been cloudy the last 6 days with a total of 6 days the rock being in the water. Now i just drained the water.

Would it be beneficial to keep the rock in their soaking under circulation of the power head and will soaking it in tap water help get the phosphates. I'm waiting on my RODI setup. Just not sure if it has to soak in saltwater to do this or if tap water will do the same?

 

[SnoopyDaPimp]

I would not soak the rocks in tap water. All the nasties in the tap water will begin to soak into the rock. I say wait until your get your RODI running and just cycle the tank with the rock in there. It sounds like the tank is not set up yet, so might as well do everything in the tank with RODI.

 

[fernalfer]

I would not soak the rocks in tap water. All the nasties in the tap water will begin to soak into the rock. I say wait until your get your RODI running and just cycle the tank with the rock in there. It sounds like the tank is not set up yet, so might as well do everything in the tank with RODI.

So i should probably soak them in RODI water in a brute can with powerhead for a bit prior to putting in the tank to flush out anything that might have attached to the rock from the tap water

 

[leviburns89]

Definitely use rodi to soak. Tap water has a ton of phosphates in it.

Look up rock cooking and rock curing. Lots of info. I gave a thread too in which I list how I got my rock ready.

 

[ghellin]

I have been using Marco rock and mined Reef rock from another vendor and I have never had an issue with phosphate leaching. I actually just added 40 pounds to my sps dominate tank over the last 2 months and still showing 0.00 on Hanna phosphate checker. I didn't even rinse the dust off...

 

[fernalfer]

I have been using Marco rock and mined Reef rock from another vendor and I have never had an issue with phosphate leaching. I actually just added 40 pounds to my sps dominate tank over the last 2 months and still showing 0.00 on Hanna phosphate checker. I didn't even rinse the dust off...

I have Marco Rock and got a phosphate reading with the Hanna Checker of 0.123. Which isn't good. I have my rock in a brute container with RODI saltwater, a power head, and a heater. Trying to figure out the best way to bring down the phosphate levels before introducing rock to the DT.

 

[crocogator106]

Dose some lanthanum Chloride, phospates will be down to reasonable levels in about a week.

 

[ghellin]

^That or just frequent Water changes with RODI. I have never tested for phosphates with just the rock in a tub. I just know adding rock slowly to my system did has never increased phosphates (although I kinda wish it would).

 

[fernalfer]

Dosing with phosfree has indeed brought my phosphate levels down to ready to put in tank levels but here is my question. Everyone says to make sure to rinse rocks off of the precipitate from the LC. Now i took out the powerhead my rocks were in that i was using the phosfree and it had a nice white haze on it from the LC. It was not easy to come off, i had to scrub with tootbrush. Not sure how it will come off the rocks before going in the tank. No way i'm scrubbing every nook and cranny of 130lbs of Marco Rock.

 

[homer1475]

After several weeks of dosing LC to dry pukani, I just rinsed my rock in plain old RO/DI. All the haze just came off with out a bit of scrubbing.

 

[fernalfer]

After several weeks of dosing LC to dry pukani, I just rinsed my rock in plain old RO/DI. All the haze just came off with out a bit of scrubbing.

Maybe it was just really stuck on the powerhead because of the strong flow.

 

[Volcmreefer]

I am in the process of reducing phosphates from my pukani. Started with 0.46 ppm about a week or so ago. Been dosing lanthanum chloride and now I am down to 0.03 ppm. I only emptied the rodi water once. Before emptying I shook the rocks in the water and removed them. I then drained ALL the water in the brute container and filled up with fresh rodi. Phosphates remained low and there was no haze on the rock. And I did dose quite a bit of lanthanum too because i wasn't worried about corals or fish. I am going to take out the rock and dunk in an rodi water bucket before starting a saltwater cure. I am very pleased with the lanthanum chloride. Hoping that the rocks won't leach in the future.